da’kere’abotbot
English: Translation
Easily offended, easily irritated, or quick to take offense, especially over teasing, jokes, harmless remarks, or minor slights; thin-skinned; touchy.
Part of Speech
adjective
Notes
da’kere’abotbot (da’ + kere’ + a + botbot)
adj.
Literally, “having a tight-folded anus.” The expression humorously compares emotional oversensitivity to a tightly puckered anal sphincter, metaphorically portraying someone as perpetually tense, clenched, and ready to react.
VARIANT
da’kere’asese’dan (da’ + kere’ + a + sese’dan “anus; lit. ‘place for defecation’”)
A synonymous, more emphatic or colloquial form.
USAGE
Di’ ika magorointrimis nya-an ta da’kere’abotbot nya-an.
“He/She is easily offended; don’t joke around with him/her because he/she quickly gets upset.”
Da’kere’asese’dan niya.
“He/She is really thin-skinned.”
COMPARE
- pepengen — irritable, bad-tempered in general.
- da’kere’abotbot — specifically prone to taking jokes or minor remarks personally; easily triggered or piqued.
Linguistic History
**CULTURAL NOTE** This humorous idiom reflects a common Boie’nen tendency to describe emotional disposition through vivid bodily imagery. Rather than referring to physical anatomy alone, the expression characterizes a person whose emotional threshold is unusually low and who reacts disproportionately to playful banter or light criticism. <<<—->>> Rather than merely describing a person who is easily offended, da’kere’abotbot portrays someone who is psychologically “tight” or “clenched”—a person whose emotional tolerance is so constricted that even harmless teasing or casual remarks readily provoke irritation or resentment. Like gepe’gepe’ (“gnashing the teeth”) and pepengen (“hot-headed”), it belongs to a broader Boie’nen pattern in which bodily tension serves as a metaphor for emotional disposition.